I visited the South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata last week. The Park Street Cemetery was one of the earliest non-church cemeteries in the world, and probably the largest Christian cemetery outside Europe and Americas in the 19th century. Opened in 1767 on what was previously a marshy area, the cemetery was in use until about 1830 and is now a heritage site, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Located between Jaipur and Amber, 5 kms from the centre, the cenotaphs of the maharanis of Jaipur are worth a visit for a stroll. One of the most exquisite attractions in the city of Jaipur, Maharani ki Chhatri is a special area for funeral for the maharanis or the royal ladies. This historical site is located on the Amber Road near the Jal Mahal, making it accessible from all parts of the city. A number of beautifully carved chhatris or cenotaphs, built in the fond memory of the royal ladies of Jaipur, are fostered at this site.

The cenotaphs were the status symbol for the women belonging to the royal families and were, therefore, constructed from diverse materials. While some were made from pure white marbles, the others were constructed with local stones depending upon the importance of the women in the nobility. As a popular belief, a cenotaph was finished with a roof structure only if the queen died before her king. In case she died after the death of the king, it would remain unfinished.

‘Springvale Botanical Gardens , Melbourne https://sbc.smct.org.au/ , is arguably the most beautiful cemetery in Australia . Covering an area of 169 hectares it boasts of a red gum tree that is reportedly 400 years old and no less than 30,000 roses of over 300 varieties . The gravestones and headstones that you see here are of outstanding quality .The monuments are set in manicured lawns and adorned by artificial and natural flowers- ‘ the last gift of the living to the dead ‘ as Kahlil Gibran would have called them . Can you believe this – wedding ceremonies take place in this cemetery and people , like their Victorian predecessors , socialise among gravestones and promenade along its wide pathways and gorgeous gardens . It has a chapel , a cafe , florists and a large function room .

Among the people interred here are hundreds of prominent citizens including forty eight First World War and 87 Second World War participants .

My wife is buried here too .

An erstwhile colleague of mine visits cemeteries all over the globe and writes brilliant notes about them . He has a personal website dedicated to this subject . I too have visited a few fascinating graveyards outside Australia . One of them is Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb , Croatia .With arcades and pavilions and a superb vine-covered wall going around it this burial place looks like an openair art gallery . The one in Moscow is also interesting . Boris Yeltsin and the wife of Gorbachev are resting here , along with innumerable grandees of the former Soviet Union , under exquisite monuments and sumptuous sculptures . The graveyard in Buenos Aires where Eva Peron was buried in a family vault of the Duartes is also worth a visit . Incredibly lifelike statues of angels and the Virgin Mother guard the dead here .

When I was in college I was taught a poem written by Thomas Gray – ‘ Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard ‘ . The most famous line in that poem is ‘The paths of glory lead but to the grave ‘ . I recall asking my professor as to why glory must end in a grave and could not be stretched beyond . Back then I was an unquestioning catholic christian and a firm believer in an after-life .

My views have changed since my salad days . I have trained myself to live as if there is nothing beyond the grave and this material world . Even if there is something I cannot comprehend it . I believe that we each create a heaven or hell inside us . The fact of death will destroy me but the idea of death has saved me . I know that I am an ephemeral inhabitant of an insignificant planet but , to me , life is beautiful despite the fact – or because of it – that it is temporary and short . I am aware of life’s terrors , not just its joys and pleasures . Still I have affirmed life without angst and resentment .

On many occasions during the past fourteen years whenever I visited my wife’s grave i have been seeing a young lady in an adjacent row of monuments . She comes alone with a bunch of flowers, kneels in front of an unpretentious pebble-strewn grave and closes her eyes for a few minutes in an attitude of praying . I have seen the portrait of a young man on the headstone of that simple grave . It is very likely she has remained single all these years and her love for the young man has remained as fresh as the flowers she brings to his grave . What can death do to such lovers ?

Ah , that reminds me . I too shall face the inevitable hour . I have lived well , so I hope to die well . I would like my epitaph to read – I LIVED , I LOVED . – RCI’

Recently I visited the old Dutch Cemetery turned museum in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Museum Taman Prasasti was formerly a cemetery, built by the Dutch colonial government in 1795 as a final resting place for noble Dutchmen.

Two detailed photo articles on this Museum/Cemetery would be coming soon on this website.

Yes, it a an amazing graveyard- a graveyard with a difference. Here one finds a large number of old railways engines, bogies etc. left to rot in the sun. This rail yard which I visited in 2014, is about 3 kms outside the small town of Uyuni in Bolivia and is connected to it by the old train tracks . Let us first try to get a mooring of where exactly is Bolivia located on the map of the world.

In the past, this town served as a distribution hub for the trains carrying minerals on their way to the Pacific Ocean ports. The train lines were built by British engineers who arrived near the end of the 19th century and formed a sizable community in Uyuni

The engineers were invited by British-sponsored Antofagasta and Bolivia Railway Companies, which is now Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia. The rail construction started in 1888 and ended in 1892.

It was encouraged by the then Bolivian President Aniceto Arce, who believed Bolivia would flourish with a good transport system, but the local indigenous people did not see to it kindly as they viewed it as an intrusion into their lives.

The trains were mostly used by the mining companies. In the 1940s, the mining industry collapsed, partly due to the mineral depletion. Many trains were abandoned thereby producing the train cemetery. One can see a large number of these retired engines staying unmoved.

Most of the trains that can be found in the Graveyard date back to the early 20th century and were imported from Britain. In other places in the world, the mighty steel trains would have held up better. The salt winds that blow over Uyuni, which hosts the world’s largest salt plain, have corroded all of the metal. Without guards or even a fence, these pieces were picked over and vandalized long ago.

You may like to see my earlier photo article ‘Landsdowne cemetery, Uttrakhand, India, Part-I’ by clicking at the following link: http://gravematters.in/?p=2076

Very thoughtfully all the graves have been listed out on these two boards. That is possible since it is very small cemetery.

The oldest death recorded is in 1900.

Hraih

Captain James Attwood Simpson died at the young age of 31 years and 8 months. Monsoon months used to take a toll on the Britishers in India through malaria. This death took place in the rainy month of July. One must read late Theon Wilkinson’s book ‘Two Monsoons’

Arthur Patrick Bateman-Champain. Age at death- 41 years.

Duncan Arnold Canney, Senior Chaplain. He too died in the rainy month of July.

Edith, wife of Major H.R.S. Reed, too died in the month of July.

Louis John Bischoff, born in Dublin also died in Landsdowne in the month of July.

Located in the Garhwal area of the state of Uttarakhand, Lansdowne is a small picturesque hill station. It is at a height of 1706 m above sea level and has very pleasant weather throughout the year. In fact, due to its weather and scenic beauty, Lansdowne was a popular hill resort for the British, and they built a cantonment here which is still preserved and maintained well.

Lansdowne is named after its founder Lord Lansdowne, the Viceroy of India during 1888-1894. Currently, the command office of the legendary Garhwal Rifles of the Indian Army is in Lansdowne. The Garhwal Rifles Regimental War Memorial and the Regimental Museum are worth a visit.

The cemetery here is located in the army area but is open to public. As soon as one enters the main gate, one finds a signboard pointing out towards the cemetery. The short 300 metres walk to the cemetery is easy to negotiate. I visited this cemetery in August 2015.

That is me at the entrance of this cemetery.

In the second part of this photo-article which will follow soon, I would present photos of some inscriptions on graves in this cemetery and some analysis.

(2) “The Last Post: Inscriptions on French graves in India” by K.J.S.Chatrath; http://gravematters.in/?p=402; Posted on June 4, 2012
Publication of the book “The Last Post: Inscriptions on French graves in India” by K.J.S.Chatrath Brief description of the book: While some of the British cemeteries in India are well known, not much is known about the Portuguese and the …

(3) “Do not disturb!” by K.J.S.Chatrath; Posted on May 17, 2012 http://gravematters.in/?p=135
Some persons working in the cemeteries are known to come across some inexplicable experiences. I have been visiting the cemeteries and especially the French cemeteries in India for almost ten years for my research work on inscriptions on French graves …